


Will I ever know how it feels to hold you close?

by aeternus_alibi



Series: Between The Minds [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Banshee Lydia Martin, F/M, Hurt Lydia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, after the pack rescued lydia from Eichen House, lydia's still recovering from the trauma peter has caused her btw, takes place on the night of 5x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 07:38:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12228486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeternus_alibi/pseuds/aeternus_alibi
Summary: The boy blinks twice, frowning. He’s surprised; hugging him like this isn’t something Lydia would normally do, for sure. Something has really changed that night and he’s unable to tell if he’s happy, scared or both.Probably both, he thinks as he tightly wraps his arms around her tiny figure, sinking his face in the crook of her neck. She’s barefoot, and he smiles when he notices she has to stand on her tiptoes in order to hug him. Stiles holds her even closer to him as the only sound that breaks the silence of the night is the one of their deep breaths of relief. He can literally feel her heart-beat against his chest, and he’s happy like he hasn’t been in months because she’salive. She’s in front of him breathing and talking and smiling andliving.





	Will I ever know how it feels to hold you close?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm just filling the gaps...

_Lydia’s walking down the cold and familiar hallway. Her feet shiver against the grey floor as Meredith speaks right behind her.  
_

_“We’re almost there, Lydia. Keep going.” Her voice comes out as a whisper in Lydia’s ear.  
_

_“Where are you taking me?” she asks, absent green eyes fixed on the dark end of the aisle.  
_

_Meredith opens her mouth but the words never come out; a deep growl echoes through the hallway instead. Lydia watches as the other banshee stiffens, shaking her head in convulsive movements. “I’m sorry Lydia, I didn’t have a choice. I-I didn’t have a choice”  
_

_She frowns, trying to understand. She turns around to face her. “What are you talking about?”  
_

_“He… He would have hurt me. I-I know he would have,” Meredith says, trembling. She seems utterly scared.  
_

_Lydia can feel her heart-beat picking up speed as cold sweat covers her pale skin. “Who? Meredith, who would have hurt you?”  
_

_“I’m sorry,” she repeats, over and over again. “He’s… He’s the alpha, Lydia. He’s always been the alpha”  
_

_Lydia’s eyes open wide. No. No, no, no, no, no.  
_

_“Lydia Martin,” a familiar voice says behind her.  
_

_The banshee slowly turns around, panic rising inside of her as her heart beats more and more fast.  
_

_Peter’s smile is sharp in the semidarkness of his cell. “Did you miss me?”  
_

_And that’s when Lydia screams.  
_

_Peter covers his ears as the glass of his cell shatters. Thousands and thousands of shining splinters stick into his skin, hurting him. Meredith takes a step back, gasping.  
_

_“Good job, Lydia.” The banshee turns around to face Valack. She shivers again when she notices that his bloody skull is half crushed. “I see you have total control of your abilities now”  
_

_“What… What are you doing here?”  
_

_“Am I not supposed to be here?” He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, right; I’m not. Not after you killed me”  
_

_“I didn’t,” she spills out, then bites her lower lip. “I mean, I didn’t want to. It was an accident”  
_

_“Whatever helps you to sleep at night,” Peter groans behind her.  
_

_“What do you want from me?” Lydia asks the werewolf. “Scott kicking your ass wasn’t enough for you to give up?”  
_

_Peter takes a step forward, removing as many pieces of glass from his skin as he can. “I’ve always thought smart girls like you should keep their pretty mouth shut, especially if they waste their breath on such pathetic sarcasm”  
_

_“I don’t really care about your thoughts, Peter,” she shudders. “I’m asking again so I can properly refuse your request: what do you want?”  
_

_Peter takes another step. He’s out of his prison now. “I’m sorry sweetheart, but you won’t get to refuse anything”  
_

_“In fact, you will do as we say and you won’t ask questions,” Valack speaks again.  
_

_She raises an eyebrow, crossing her arms. “And why the hell is that?”  
_

_Peter quickly goes past Lydia and grabs Meredith’s arm, placing the other hand over the pale skin of her neck. He sticks his claws out. “Because if you don’t, I’ll kill her right in front of you”  
_

_Lydia’s heart skips a bit as she watches Meredith squirming under Peter’s hold. “Please, don’t”  
_

_Valack grins. “Will you do exactly as we say?”  
_

_Lydia clenches her teeth.  
_

_“I’m gonna count to three, Lydia. Then I’ll rip her apart” Peter’s eyes are blue and terrifying. “I warned you,” he growls.  
_

_Meredith closes her eyes, preparing for the worst.  
_

_“Don’t”  
_

_“One”  
_

_Lydia…  
_

_“Two…”  
_

_Lydia.  
_

_“Three”  
_

_Lydia!_

 

She wakes up with a start, her heart pounding like crazy against the rib cage. It’s dark and the whole world is spinning like a carousel.

It’s just a moment, but she’s there once again. She’s in Eichen House, wrists tied to the bed, waiting for Valack to come and torture her. She lets out a sob, heavy tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Lydia, Lydia, hey,” a voice murmurs, and that’s when she realizes that Stiles has woken her up from a nightmare. He’s right next to her as he turns on the lamp that lays on her pink bedside table. His shaky hands search for hers. “It’s okay, it’s okay. _Breathe_ ”

Lydia swallows and takes in a sharp breath. “Stiles,” she whispers, completely disoriented.

And then it all comes back to her.

She’s out, they saved her. Stiles saved her.

She shuts her eyes, relief washing over her. Stiles’ hands cup uncertainly her cheeks, his thumbs wiping the tears away. “I’m here, you’re safe”

She knows she is. Oh, Lydia knows she is with him.

They stare at each other for a few seconds before he speaks again. “Was it a nightmare?”

Lydia leans into his touch, the ghost of a smile spreading across her lips. She’s suddenly aware that something irreparably changed between them that night. This is the most intimate they’ve ever been, and she’s not sure she knows how to handle it. She slowly nods as his gaze gets even more tender.

“What was it about?”

Lydia’s lips part as she tries to remember. Fragments hit her like a slap; Meredith’s voice, Peter’s evil smile, Valack’s skull… but nothing more. “I can’t remember. It was just…” She swallows, shaking her head. “Terrifying”

He nods, his eyebrows clenching together in worry. “You’re home now. It’s over, it was just a bad dream.” His warm hands leave the cheeks they have been stroking as he straightens, gaining some distance between them.

“I know.” Lydia purses her lips; she never wished he’d hold her in his arms more than now.

She doesn’t know that Stiles is currently fighting every instinct to do so. He’s not sure he _can_ hug her, he’s not sure about anything between them, not now. After what happened that night, everything is so fucked up that he doesn’t know how to act around her anymore.  
_What are we?_ , he wants to ask, but the words get stuck in his mouth while he realizes how selfish that question would be. _Lydia just went through hell_ , he reminds himself as the simple thought of it makes his eyes burn.

“I’m sorry, Lydia,” he says, at last.

She looks at him, confusion all over her face. “For what?”

He avoids her gaze as he realizes that there are actually so many things he should be apologizing for. He focuses on the white sheets between them, torturing his hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you out sooner and I’m sorry for what you had to get through because of that.” He blinks twice, sucking in a deep breath. “You were in there, tortured by that psycho, and I felt so lost, Lydia, so useless... Com’on, I had to turn to _Theo_ for help. And all I could think about was that none of this crap would have happened to you if we… If _I_ …” his voice breaks; Stiles bites his lower lip trying to stop it from trembling, his brown eyes filled with unshed tears. He shakes his head. “We could have lost you tonight, and it would have been all my fault. I’m _so_ sorry…”

“No, Stiles, no,” Lydia whispers, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her in the eyes. “Don’t do this to yourself. You _saved_ me tonight. That’s all that matters. I’m here, and I promise I’ll be just fine.” She places one hand over his, stopping the frantic movements of his fingers. “We’ll be okay, both of us”

He swallows and nods, holding her hand tightly. “I hope you’re right”

Lydia smiles, teasingly. “I always am,” she jokes, and Stiles thrust his mouth open to say something… But ends up shutting it a second later. Nope, there’s no argument to her assumption.

“Good point,” he smiles slightly, feeling a little less hollow and broken inside.

“Yeah, magnificently above criticism”

Stiles looks at her. God, he’s missed this. He’s missed this so fucking much. He’s missed _her_ for all the time she’s been stuck in that nightmare asylum and he craves her company. There’s so much he wants to tell her, so much they have to talk about now that they finally have the chance. All he can think about is that he could stay up all night just _talking_ to Lydia, it doesn’t matter that he hasn’t slept in two days, it doesn’t even matter because she’s with him again.

But then Lydia yawns and every talk is postponed to the next day.

Stiles stands up. “You should get back to sleep,” he states. “Your mum said I could stay the night, so I’ll be in the guest room if you need… well, anything”

“Thanks,” she mutters while he starts walking towards the door. Her chest tightens. “And Stiles?”

“Yeah?” he turns around, placing his hands on his sides, waiting.

Lydia pulls back the sheets and stands up, in green t-shirt and white shorts, hair down all around her shoulders. She takes a few deep steps and throws both arms around Stiles’ neck.

The boy blinks twice, frowning. He’s surprised; hugging him like this isn’t something Lydia would normally do, for sure. Something has really changed that night and he’s unable to tell if he’s happy, scared or both.

 _Probably both_ , he thinks as he tightly wraps his arms around her tiny figure, sinking his face in the crook of her neck. She’s barefoot, and he smiles when he notices she has to stand on her tiptoes in order to hug him. Stiles holds her even closer to him as the only sound that breaks the silence of the night is the one of their deep breaths of relief. He can literally feel her heart-beat against his chest, and he’s happy like he hasn’t been in months because she’s _alive_. She’s in front of him breathing and talking and smiling and _living_.

“Thank you,” he whispers to her ear, and he sounds completely wrecked. “Thank you for not dying tonight, Lydia”

She gently clenches her fists around the collar of his plaid. “You’re welcome,” she whispers back, and his quiet laugh transmits in an interesting way through their entangled bodies.

They stay like this for the shortest forty seconds of their lives, then Lydia slowly breaks the hug. When she does, they’re a little too embarrassed to look at the other in the eyes.

“’Night,” Stiles says, turning around to reach the exit of her room.

“Good night,” Lydia responds, right before he closes the door behind him.

She doesn’t have nightmares for the rest of the night.


End file.
